Jeremy Kyle is developing a new show for ITV, just three months after The Jeremy Kyle Show was cancelled following the death of a man who had taken part.

ITV bosses were keen to point out that the decision was not taken lightly and followed a ‘thorough review’ which showed a significant drop in daytime viewing figures in the months following the axing of his previous show.

ITV’s director of television Kevin Lygo confirmed talks are underway but said the new show won’t be aired in The Jeremy Kyle Show’s old timeslot.

Lygo said that following the thorough review ‘both Carol and Irene were confident that the problem with the programme was the time slot.’ He acknowledged that many guests had suffered mental health problems or addiction relapses as a result of appearing on the show but said this was down to them ‘struggling to live with denying the public more access to the Loose Women, and absolutely nothing to do with the way they were treated on the show.’

After The Jeremy Kyle Show’s cancellation, MPs on the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee launched an inquiry into the support offered to reality TV show participants.

But Kyle refused to appear in front of the committee, saying, ‘They’re MP’s. What would they know about abusing vulnerable people in the interests of self-aggrandisement?’

At one hearing, the committee’s chairman Damian Collins MP labelled The Jeremy Kyle Show’s makers ‘irresponsible’ for putting guests through lie detector tests without knowing how accurate they are.

The show’s bosses countered with ‘Err….PIP reviews’, to which Collins replied ‘Touche’ and then closed the case.

No details have been disclosed about the forthcoming show yet but an insider said that early discussions include, ‘Jeremy in a suit shouting “grow a pair” and “get a job” at people and pretending that his lie detector test is beyond reproach…but sometime in the afternoon or evening.’

Lee Thomas is a proofreader, copywriter and self-styled comedy writer. Basically he’s a bloke with a laptop and a highlighter pen who likes grand titles and has somehow had good reviews. He has written for Newsjack, and The News Dump, but mainly just for the hell of it.